All Of Our Anchor

Simple, garage-based rock tunes. Sounds like Eliot Smith meets the White Stripes. It seems this young guy recorded it all by himself. Employs an Isaac Brock vocal recording technique of overdubbing the lyrics an octave apart frequently. Personal lyrics, with a garage-rock approach. Studio touches are here, but much of the record sounds recorded almost haphazardly, which is part of the charm for some garage acts, but it doesn't add much here. Sounds like a collection of relatively nicely produced demos. Too much filler in the middle of the album; the beginning is decent and the end is a little better. Meh.
1. Jangling acoustic guitar swells with overdubbed vocals and distorted guitar, whiny voice (3:38)
2. Banjo added to the mix of acoustic rhythm, distorted guitars, vocal tracks (2:53)
3. Heaviest song yet, with driving bass, electric guitars, drowning vocals, percussion (2:50)
*4. Biggest opening hook, full instrumentation, straining vocals bordering on screaming in the upper register, horns accompany distorted guitars with keys. (3:15)
5. Distorted guitars, loose arrangement, repetitive, (3:14)
6. Rhythm section is loose, vocals are low, borderline out of key, (3:56)
7. Vocal track intro, bass and acoustic guitars mixed prominently, lyrics are hard to decipher, backup vox are good, but lead are poor. (2:52)
8: Catchy guitar opening, builds to a strong bridge with backup vocals and guitars, lyrical refrain, "we never existed," (3:05)
9: Sounds really similar to track 8, guitar fills add to it, some sort of glockenspiel added to outro(3:23)
10: Raw percussion is noticeable, but has difficulty staying in time, seems amateur; bass is pounding, obnoxious experimentation solo at 2:20, (3:20)
11: Returns to the acoustically driven hooks of the first few songs, mellow, production works best on these songs. (3:00)
12: Driving rhythm, uptempo, guitar line is concise, strong (2:01)
13: Hip hop lean, a little out of place on the record, hand claps, simple guitar chords and guitar pattern in background, outro is experimental (2:32)
*14: Synth opening, organ prevalent, tom toms-tribal drumming, vocals are strong, horns appear, 'all they see in the music is money'. (2:34)
15: Horns, jangly guitars, strong rhythm section, poppy vocals, concise pop song(2:26)
*16: Tight rhythm, concise arrangement, "If I lost your love, I felt my world would have died now," one of his stronger vocal performances. (3:11)
17: Sounds like Blind Melon, repetitive guitar part, snapping, multiple tracks on vocals, and keys. (3:09)